Four Generations, One Calling: A Family’s Legacy in Medicine

For the Cady family, medicine isn’t just a career—it’s a calling that has spanned more than a century, weaving through four generations and leaving a lasting impact on both patients and community.  

It all began with Dr. Laurence H. Cady, born in Minneapolis on January 22, 1891, who taught chemistry and physics prior to serving as a school principal in Brewster, a southwestern Minnesota farm town. Laurence ultimately shifted careers from education to medicine, graduating from the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1914. Dr. Cady practiced at St. Andrews and St. Barnabas hospitals in southeast Minneapolis. As a general family practitioner, Dr. Cady would make numerous house calls during the evenings and overnight hours to serve the needs of the many patients under his care.  

Laurence Cady had a son at age 51, Tim, who followed in his father’s footsteps and into the field of medicine. You might recognize the name. Dr. Tim Cady came to Buffalo in 1971. He graduated from St. John’s University in 1964 and the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1969. Prior to practicing family medicine in Buffalo, Dr. Cady completed an internship and practiced medicine in Indiana. When Tim was an adolescent, he remembers traveling with his father to house calls.

“When I was really little, I used to go on house calls. I think he kind of half babysat us. He would bring us along on house calls, and we would wait in the car. It would be at night and after hours for him. He would work in the hospital during the day, make house calls in the evening, and sometimes be up for OB’s and deliveries. The old-time practice is interesting to me. I still remember the small hospital, the solo GP practice, the OB, and the house calls. That doesn’t happen much anymore.”

At age 12, Tim Cady was already working in his father’s office and assisting with a variety of tasks. 

“I worked in his office starting when I was 12. I never liked that because I wanted to have my weekends free for myself,” Dr. Cady recalled with a smile. “His assistant in the office didn’t work on Saturdays, so I got put to work. It would be things like sitting at the desk and answering the phone, taking payments from patients, and doing some of the simple lab tests. My dad was just a good role model. I would hear from people who knew him, he was the old typical GP.”

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, as the old saying goes. Dr. Tim Cady and his wife Mary (deceased) have a son, Michael, and daughter, Erin, who both carried on the family tradition of practicing medicine. 

Daughter, Erin Macheel (now retired), is a graduate of Buffalo High School, and worked as a Physician’s Assistant at the Buffalo Clinic (Stellis Health). She lives in Buffalo with her family. 

Son, Michael Cady, also a BHS alumnus, is an OB-GYN doctor practicing in Crosby, MN. Michael’s wife, Dr. Rachel Cady, is also an OB-GYN. The couple has five children. This fall, their son, Ryan, began his medical school journey at the University of Minnesota Duluth, marking the 4th generation of Cady’s to attend medical school with hopes of one day wearing the white coat. 

Next summer marks a big occasion for the Cady family. Ryan, who is engaged to fiancée, Bella Severson, will be getting married on July 3.

Together, the Cady’s represent a timeline of careers—embodying the enduring bond between family and caring for others. Their story is a reminder that while advances in medical treatments evolve, the human heart of medicine remains the same, to serve patients with compassion and care.